SAFETY meetings and safety training are profitable investments, not costs, as all of us in this industry understand. You'll be pleased to know that a March 2006 survey of a sample of Occupational Health & Safety readers confirmed the value of both activities and suggested most respondents are using them wisely.
AT least 5 million people worldwide die from injuries each year. Two professors in Seattle have declared a global campaign to prevent 20 percent of those deaths, saying it is "within our grasp" to save about 1 million lives annually.
GENETIC screening done for occupational reasons is a potentially explosive issue. It burned Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., which agreed to pay $2.2 million three years ago to employees it had secretly tested. But we're seeing no headlines now: Is the issue settled? Hardly.
IS H5N1 avian flu the real deal? Surprisingly, many Americans don't fear it. They may have taken comfort from Turkey's outbreaks early this year; the disease was fairly widespread there but, as of this writing, still could not be passed easily from person to person. Health care professionals are very worried, however.
WHAT if you were sick and your doctor told you she could gaze into a crystal ball and show you what ails you? You might be skeptical or even begin to question your choice in physicians, but the truth is there is such a "crystal ball"--except it uses technology, not magic, and it's actually made of glass.
INDUSTRY has done a very good job at determining how to fix equipment to keep it up and running. And yet, how often do we look at a failed piece of equipment or equipment that has never worked quite right and blame the manufacturer for the problems?
SMALL changes in investigation technique can sometimes produce large improvements in incident investigation results. This article discusses several common weaknesses found in investigation management systems.
IT'S a hot, blistering day on the construction site. A worker stops to notice an attractive lady walking by confidently. She's secretly ready to barrage him with a stream of obscenities at the first sound of a whistle and sure enough, one rings clearly above the construction din.
THIS magazine and I are hitting milestone birthdays. Mine, turning 50, happened in 2004. But I'm a generation younger than Occupational Health & Safety, which will see its 75th birthday this year.
A 90-day postponement delayed it just as this column was being written, but the tug of war over OSHA's proposed expansion of 29 CFR 1910.269 and related rules is still looming. Shortly before the comment period's original closing date of Oct. 13, about 40 people had filed notices of intent to appear at the agency's hearing that was moved to March 6, 2006, in Washington, D.C.
THE place is a desolate, stinking, swampland speckled with the remains of a past civilization. Upended cars and rooftops serve as makeshift perches for birds who keep constant focus on an approaching alligator.
EMPLOYERS and employees have a vested interest in performing tasks safely at work. Employers want to ensure their most valuable assets (their people) are safe and protected from hazards while making sure they cover all of the compliance requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe work environment that is free of recognized hazards.
LET'S make it mandatory for building owners and designers to incorporate fall safety during a building's design stage. Please don't tell me this is impractical or too expensive--not when Australia's National Occupational Health and Safety Commission is taking this bold step right now.
Editor's note: All but gone are the days of EH&S consultants' reports being delivered in three-ring binders with accompanying Polaroid prints. Instead, consulting firms such as Kansas City, Mo.-based OCCU-TEC Inc. (www.occutec.com) are delivering data in "living documents" that are easy to maintain, always up to date, and available 24/7 from any computer that has online access.
DOES your workplace suffer from a generational rift? If you're like the majority of companies, the answer is yes. However, today's pressing concern is no longer "how to manage the Generation X crowd." With the Gen X'ers now entering managerial roles, today's biggest concern is how these new young managers can effectively lead people their parents' age.
BY the time you read this, the final ASIS International Workplace Violence Prevention and Response Guideline should be printed and available free online.
"A few years ago, this type of artificial intelligence-based fire detection just simply was technically impossible in real time."
Editor's note: Early warning is everything when it comes to fires, say the developers of SigniFireTM, a software system that uses patented image-analysis technology designed for instant fire, smoke, and intrusion detection.
Isiah Thomas left Indiana University after two years and at age 19 was the fourth pick in the 1982 NBA draft. Much to his dismay, the lowly Detroit Pistons selected him. Detroit was a team without a tradition or identity; in fact, its players had won just 16 of 82 games in the previous season.
I don't expect you to read and remember every word published in this magazine, Dear Reader. But I hope the contents benefit you always and educate you sometimes.